The Nature of Scientific Inquiry

1. The Nature of Scientific Inquiry How Science Works Cedar International School MrErdosy 2010-2011

2. So many questions… • The ancestor of science is ignorance. • Asking a question about the world around you is the first step away from ignorance and towards understanding. • Science is the tool used to understand how the world works.

3. Answering your question… • What you think the answer to your question may be is called a HYPOTHESIS. • The hypothesis is then tested to see if it is correct.

4. If it is wrong… • Go back to the drawing board and formulate another hypothesis! • You have still learned something if your hypothesis is rejected. This is not a bad thing.

5. Hypothesis • If it is correct, it is next retested in many different ways and formats, using different experiments, to see if it continues to be correct. • If the hypothesis is continually correct, under many different circumstances, experiments, trials and formats, it becomes a THEORY. • Essentially, a scientific theory is true.

6. Scientific THEORY • - A well-tested EXPLANATION for a wide range of observations or experimental results.

7. Cell Theory • Every living thing ever found is made of at least one cell.

8. Theory of Natural Selection • Populations of organisms are changed through interactions with other organisms and their environments, leading to speciation.

9. Atomic Theory • All matter is made of tiny particles called atoms.

10. Theory of Evolution • Organisms have descended from common ancestors.

11. Scientific Laws • Scientific Laws are statements about the Universe , usually involving a mathematical constant. They are very specific.

12. Examples of Scientific Laws • Archimedes's Principal: Any floating object displaces its own weight of fluid. • Newton’s Laws of Motion, Universal Gravitation, Law of Cooling, etc. • Einstein’s E = mc^2, etc

13. Differences between Laws and Theories • Newton's law of universal gravitation states that every massive particle in the universe attracts every other massive particle with a force which is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. • Theory of Gravity: All objects with mass attract each other due to the curvature of space-time.

14. How are Theories and Laws like Slingshots and Automobiles? • A scientific law is like a slingshot. A slingshot has but one moving part--the rubber band. If you put a rock in it and draw it back, the rock will fly out at a predictable speed, depending upon the distance the band is drawn back.

15. A theory is like the automobile. Components of it can be changed or improved upon, without changing the overall truth of the theory as a whole.

16. The Nature of Science • Any Theory or Law can, at any time, be proven false by new evidence or experimental results that contradict it. • If this happens, the Theory or Law is then adjusted to fit the best available evidence at the time.

17. Peer Reviewed • Science is Peer Reviewed! • This means that scientists check each others’ work continually. • This is also why experiments must be repeatable.

18. For example, if you say you have conducted an experiment that allowed you to turn a handful of sand into a fully functional human brain….cool. But… if this is not repeatable it is as if it never happened.

19. Think of science as one big math test that gets passed around a classroom full of experts in math. • They check each others’ work, repeat each others’ calculations and argue if any differences arise. • The accepted answers to each question become Theories or Laws.